Doctor Night
by TheSenjuMan
Summary: The Titans encounter a mysterious man who has an interesting connection to Raven. At the same time, they must help him ward off a band of assassins hellbent on wiping out anyone associated with magic. But who are these assassins and why are they doing this? Possible BBxRae.
1. Hello

_*Splash*_

_*Splash*_

_*Splash*_

The sound of heavy footsteps running through puddles echoed in the alleyway as a figure moved frantically. His pants were quick and erratic as he looked behind himself to see nothing there. 'Must've lost 'em,' he thought. The man turned around quickly to see what looked like a brick wall rapidly approaching. He squinted his eyes and held his right arm out in front of him.

"अन्यतः व्रजति!"(*) he called out; as he said it, a black portal opened from within the brick wall.

He ran through the portal and ended up on one of the many high rise rooftops of Jump City. The pitter-patter of rain permeated the air, but the man didn't care. He smiled in relief as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Heh," he chuckled. The man in question had a hood covering his face, a red trench coat, and brown pants. He was also carrying a rucksack that rested over one shoulder and ended at his right hip. "Probably should've been more specific on that one. Nice save, Jesse."

The man, Jesse, fell to the ground in a sitting position and began to rummage through his rucksack; after a few seconds, he took out a brown, rustic-looking codex. The codex itself looked very much as if it was handmade by one person in a short amount of time, with the wooden covers being thick and on the verge of rotting, and the metallic binding looking rusted beyond belief.

"Alright, where are you? Where are you?" Jesse mumbled to himself as he quickly skimmed the pages of the ancient book. After skimming through a sizable chunk, he tapped his finger on the vellum paper.

"Aha! Ok, radar incantation type 1: chant this or any other variation and the soul of self will locate whomever the caster wishes. Requires complete concentration," Jesse read. He closed the book and looked at his surroundings; the black of night surrounded him, only being broken up by the eerie shine of the moon above him.

"Good enough," he said. He squeezed his eyes shut and huffed out a breath.

'Help me, Jake. Help me get through this,' he thought to himself.

"बृन्ग फ़ोर्थ् तो मे थे गेम! बृन्ग मे थे दौघ्तेर ओफ़् त्रिगोन," (**) he began. "व्हेरे इस शे? व्हेरे इस शे? चोमे फ़ोर्थ्! Fइन्द् हेर!" (***)

As he continued the chant, Jesse opened his now a milky white eyes as a black spiritual construct emerged from him in the form of a crow and took to the skies. Jesse's soul self swooped down and all around the many twists and turns of Jump City, sensing no familiar energy from the many citizens. It swooped back into the skies and caught a rather unusual sight: a tower in the shape of a giant 'T'.

The soul self wasted no time zipping over to the Tower as fast as it conceivably could. It stopped and watched through the Tower's windows; it spotted a young girl of about 17 years of age sitting on a couch and reading a book while four others were doing other miscellaneous things.

Back on the rooftop, Jesse smiled as he felt a massive rush of spiritual energy coursing through him. "Found you," he whispered, his voice containing a mild echo. He promptly blacked out as his soul self returned.

* * *

In the main lobby of the Tower, Raven Roth's eyes fluttered opened and she found herself witness to all four of her friends and teammates (one of whom she hopes can be more, not that she'd admit it) crowding around her.

"Mama?" Beast Boy exclaimed, shaking her. "You're alive!"

Raven quickly pushed Beast Boy off and stood up. "Yes, I'm obviously alive," she droned, monotone. "And what did I say about calling me that?"

"Only in the bedroom?" Beast Boy replied, an awkward grin on his face. The violet-haired girl growled and the changeling quickly revised his sentence. "Alright, never! Never!"

"Good boy," she said, smirking.

"Raven, what happened?" Robin asked, his usual hard edged voice now tinged with concern.

"Yeah! It's like one minute you're reading, the next you're on the ground having some kind of seizure," Cyborg added.

"I was on the ground?" Raven said, flabbergasted. "I-I don't remember."

Starfire flew up in Raven's face, examining her closely. "You are not afflicted by any sort of ailment, are you?" the alien girl asked, grabbing and poking Raven's face.

"Starfire, let go of my face," Raven said, annoyed. Starfire obeyed her request. The violet haired girl "I'm fine, I just need to go meditate now. Don't disturb me."

"Raven-"

"I said don't!" the empath hissed.

Beast Boy scoffed at Raven floating away. "That's what she always does."

"Beast Boy-" Robin warned before he was interrupted.

"Why can't she just talk to us, dude? We're her friends, aren't we?"

Cyborg put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You know she has trouble with things like that, Beastie. She'll come around when she comes around."

"Cyborg is right," Starfire agreed. "Should Raven find herself in the trouble, there is all the guarantee that she will come to us."

"In the meantime," Robin began, "I have some profiles that need cataloguing."

The changeling and the half-machine rolled their eyes. "Suuuure ya do," Beast Boy teased.

"I'm serious!" Robin replied. "Come on Starfire." He quickly grabbed the Tamaranean's hand and sprinted off, his face reddening.

"Cy?"

"Yeah, buddy?" Cyborg said.

"Rae-Rae's not just fine is she?" Beast Boy asked, his voice small.

"Not for a second."

* * *

The door slid open and quickly closed as Raven entered her room, a gothic, horror tinged place to the average person's eye; for Raven, it felt just like home.

'What was that? Why was I convulsing on the ground?' she thought to herself. 'Most importantly: what was that strange energy I felt?'

She floated over to the center of her room, which was right next to her bed, where the candles were prepared to be lit. As Raven went to sit down, however, she did a double take and looked at the wall.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she read the one word that was practically engraved on the wall:

HELLO.

* * *

**AN: This is my first entry on the Teen Titans fandom, and I haven't watched the show in a few years, so I wanna know if this sounds too OOC or too out of the show's ordinary.**

**BTW, Jesse really is a character in the comics. Who? You'll find out soon enough.**

**All the passages with an asterisk are Sanskrit.**

**(*) Go elsewhere!**

**(**) Bring me the Gem! Bring forth the daughter of Trigon!**

**(***) Where is she? Where is she? Come forth! Find her!**


	2. My Name is Jesse

One word.

A usual greeting before it was followed by the meaningless action of small talk. At least Raven thought it meaningless.

But this? This filled her with uneasiness. The violet haired empath traced her fingers over the engraving on the wall. She could sense a tinge of supernatural energy emanating from the engraving. Her hands began to glow black, a reaction to the energy.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she whispered, opening up a black void that was soon after filled by a series of images.

The void projected an image of a group of shadowy individuals, an unknown black essence dripping off all of them; they also had faces which looked like skulls that were in the process of burning or were already burnt. They were surrounding a young, shirtless man with short black hair who was tied up with ropes by the wrists and ankles. There was one skull man who wielded a giant axe-spear and was stabbing violently into the young man's chest. His screams echoed throughout whatever location he was being held in. The empath watched as the others pulled out their blades stabbed into the young man in random places repeatedly. Blood splattered all over them until the young man's screams ended.

The man with the axe-spear looked up, appearing to stare directly into Raven's eyes and she quickly dispelled the projection. Eyes wide, she floated onto her bed, her quick breaths seeming almost like she was hyperventilating.

"Raven?" the voice of Beast Boy called out from behind her door.

She did not answer, attempting to compose herself from the images witnessed. After a very huge deep breath, she floated over to the door, her face masked in its usual apathy. Raven opened the door just enough to see Beast Boy's face.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping right now?" she asked, droll.

"I would if I slept," the changeling replied. "What's going on, Rae? You've been acting weirder than usual."

"Nice to know I'm weird. Thanks for that, really," Raven snarked. "And don't call me 'Rae'. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"You're not really meditating, are you?" BB challenged.

Raven scowled at the green skinned boy before darting her eyes back and forth from the hallway. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into her room.

"Gar," she began, using his real name. "I honestly don't know what's happening and it's making me feel...off to say the least. But you let me deal with this, alright?"

"Is it something to do with your emotions?" BB asked.

"Trust me, if it was, I would've dealt with it by now. It's way more serious than that."

"Just let me help you, mama," BB pleaded. "You're not alone."

"I know." Raven had a ghost of a smile on her face. "I'll be more specific later, Gar. That's all I can promise."

"Good enough for me." As BB got up to leave, he stopped for a second and turned around. "Wait. You're not even gonna threaten me or hit me for callin' you 'mama'?"

*SMACK*

"Ow!"

"Thanks for reminding me," Raven said, an evil smirk on her face.

"Damn it," BB mumbled as he left, the door closing behind him. The empath chuckled slightly before composing herself once more.

Raven floated over to her door and took out a small knife. She began carving on the wall immediately.

* * *

On top of one of the many rises in Jump City, Jesse groaned and rubbed his head.

"Shit, man. Never doing that again," he mumbled.

He looked over and saw that his codex was glowing black. He gasped and began skimming it to find out exactly which page was glowing. After stopping on a formerly blank page, Jesse read:

'WHO ARE YOU?'

"Yes," he cheered. "I knew you'd say something."

Jesse smiled and rummaged around in his rucksack, taking out a calligraphy pen and some ink. Dipping the pen into the ink, he quickly scribbled out:

'ROOFTOP. NOW.'

Placing his codex and pen back into his sack, Jesse cracked his knuckles. "Hope this works, Jake," he thought out loud.

The mysterious magician held his right arm out in front of him, glowing black. "टके मे तो थे तोवेर," (*) he said. A portal opened up for him to step through.

On the other side, Jesse closed the portal behind him and was now standing on another rooftop, but this time, he was not alone. Staring at him was the purple haired girl that he located with his soul self. Her face looked apathetic, but he can sense the suspicion and uneasiness coming from her.

* * *

Red trench coat with a hood covering his face, brown pants, and some kind of bag with one strap on his right shoulder. Raven couldn't see his face, which made her all the more wary of him. Going on his appearance alone, he looked to be a bit older than her, around 22 or 23 years old. He stood at around 5'11", the same height as she.

What really stuck out to Raven was the fact that she couldn't sense any of his emotions.

'_Can you hear me?_' a voice in her head said. However, the voice was not Raven's own, making the empath turn her head around herself.

'_Sorry. Guess you're not telepathic_,' the voice apologized.

"Let's use our outside voices," Raven said to the man, crossing her arms.

Jesse coughed into his hand to clear his throat. "Uh, heh, I, uh, I know you probably have a shit ton of questions ri-"

"Who are you?" Raven interrupted, her voice steely. "And how did you carve that message in my room?"

"Straight to the point, huh?" Jesse remarked.

Raven noticed that his voice carried an East Coast flair. "Enough with the small talk. Answer my question."

"Pushy," Jesse snarked. "Guess I can't blame you. And for the carving? I had to get your attention somehow."

"You left me seizing on the floor, scaring my friends. Full attention granted."

Jesse shifted around nervously. "I don't wanna sound offensive, but...I mean, uh, this day and age? A grown man on a rooftop with a teenage girl-"

"No one can see us, if that's what you're wondering," Raven replied, her voice dry.

"Ok. Sorry about the blacking out thing. Anyways, here goes." He took off his hood, displaying brown eyes, long matte black hair and a five o'clock shadow. "My name is Jesse, and obviously you're Raven. You're my, uh, half-sister."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "Is this supposed to be some kind of a joke? Because it's not funny. I'm giving you to the count of three-"

Her threat was interrupted by Jesse taking off his right glove and displaying a rather unfortunately familiar mark on the palm of his hand. She also noticed that his eyes were glowing gold.

'_Now do you believe me?_' his voice echoed in her head.

"How?" she asked as Jesse dispelled the mark and his eyes went back to their normal brown. "This can't be true. I would've known if he had more children!"

"Ol' daddy dearest always did have a thing for human women. You think you were the first? Pssh, far from it," Jesse replied. "Anyways, I know this is-"

Jesse was interrupted by Raven enveloping his body with telekinetically. "I should send you back to the domain of my father!" Raven threatened, her eyes milky white.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Jesse exclaimed, using his telekinesis to free himself. "Let's not get too hasty, alright?! I'm one of the good guys, I promise!"

"That remains to be seen," Raven hissed at him, still in a defensive stance.

"I'm not asking-ok, sort of-ugggh, I'm not evil! I just need your help, ok?!"

"Help?" Raven wondered.

Jesse sighed. "It's gonna take a lot longer to explain myself, I know. Long story short, there are these guys coming. I swear to everything that is holy, I'm not lying about that."

"There was the projection of these men and women-"

Jesse held up a hand, cutting her off. "This is gonna have to wait 'til the morning. These sons of bitches are probably one third of the way here as we speak."

Raven watched as Jesse turned around and stuck his left arm out in front of him. "गिवे मे शेल्तेर," (**) he said, summoning a portal. Before he stepped through the portal, he took one last look at Raven.

"I'll be back, I swear," he said before entering the portal to an unknown location.

Raven ran her hands through her hair, anxious; she couldn't get a read on him with her powers, he displayed the mark of Skath, and knew the same kind of magic she did.

"What the hell?" she whispered to herself, going back inside the tower.

* * *

**BTW, yes, Raven actually has six other brothers including Jesse in the comics. They're known as the Sons of Trigon or the Seven Deadly Sins and they're a-holes. I decided to make at least two of them good for the sake of the TT Universe.**

**(*): Take me to the Tower.**

**(**): Give me shelter.**


	3. There's An Incoming Threat

Las Vegas, Nevada.

The City of Sin. Gambling capital of the U.S. of A. Hell, possibly the gambling capital of the world. Where the most hedonistic and materialistic desires can come true just by playing the right card or talking to the right woman. In a casino, one Ethan Trembley's monetary wishes were coming true.

"These are 21!" the dealer at the table said.

"HAHAHA! I'm rolling big tonight!" Ethan cheered, pumping a fist into the air. The brunet man had never been too lucky at many things, but tonight, it seemed that a higher power was taking pity on him. He had hit it big with the slot machines, the poker table, and now blackjack. He took all the chips that he had one and ran to the nearest cashier to cash them in.

"Wait 'til everyone back home sees this!" he said. enthusiasm dripping from his voice.

After cashing in the $578,000 he had won, Ethan exited the casino. He walked through the eerie pitch black of the parking lot, as giddy as a horse on speed. He opened up the trunk of his car when suddenly, a voice called out.

"Feeling lucky, aren't we?"

Ethan jumped and looked around, startled. "W-who's there?!" he replied.

"Seems like this one is a late bloomer," another voice called out from the ether. "A bit more of a struggle, but nothing to sweat over."

Ethan rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a gun. 9mm Beretta to be more specific. "I'm warning you, man!"

"Another fighter. Good," the voice echoed ominously.

As quickly as the voice came, a figure materialized in front of Ethan and kicked his right hand, knocking the gun clean away from the man. Ethan retaliated by throwing a wild haymaker, but the figure caught his punch and punched Ethan in the face repeatedly. Ethan tumbled onto the ground, his nose dripping with blood.

"Don't try to fight back, arcane," the shadowy man said. "You're not that good."

Ethan growled at the man until the light from one of the lamps in the parking lot illuminated the man's face, revealing a skull instead.

"W-what the hell are you?" Ethan questioned.

"Your end, of course," the skull man replied. More beings emerged next to the man and they proceeded to swarm around Ethan, throwing punches, kicks, and any other attack on the poor man. The mysterious group was beating him within an inch of his life.

Ethan got up and ran in the other direction, making it around fifty feet before a whistle emerged from the wind.

"AAAAHHHH!" Ethan screamed in agony. A wooden spike stabbed into his left leg, sending him to the ground in excruciating pain. Another shadowy being materialized, this time holding what looked like a medieval crossbow.

"Please! Please, don't do this!" Ethan begged. "If it's money you-"

Ethan's pleas were permanently cut off when the man shot a wood spike into Ethan's eye, killing him instantly. "The only thing we want is your death, arcane."

The crossbow wielder looked toward the rest of his group. "It is done, Middleton," the crossbow wielder said.

The leader, Middleton, nodded his head. He then put his fingers to his mouth, letting out a whistle that summoned the groups horses. "Let us ride into the night!" he exclaimed.

The group got on their horses and began to ride into the night. As they rode, the crossbow wielder turned his head toward Middleton.

"How closer are we to finding our runner, sire?" he asked.

"Patience, Crooke. It is only the next state over, if our senses are correct," Middleton replied.

"Apparently, he has entered Northern California according to Atkinson. You won't believe what else he said."

"Which would be?"

"This city he is hiding in. It is swarming with arcanes, sire!"

Middleton laughed. "Perfect. It makes everything easier. Like fish in a barrel."

Middleton, Crooke, and the rest of the gang continued on, eager to get to their next destination: Jump City. However, Middleton did have something else on his mind: who was that purple-haired girl he caught a glimpse of?

* * *

It started off as your usual morning in Titans Tower: Robin holed up in his office, Cyborg and Beast Boy binging out on video games, Starfire performing 'the braiding maneuvers' on her hair, and Raven meditating in her room.

"Azarath….Metrion….Zinthos….Aaaazarratthh….Metrion…..Ziiinthooos…" As she chanted her mantra, vials and candles were floating in the air, forming a circle around her.

Complete concentration was what the empath strove to achieve. Not only in this state, but within everyday life. Focus is what helped her get this far, and she was not willing to sacrifice it for anything.

'_Hi there_.'

We don't always get what we strive for.

As the familiar voice rang in her head, Raven's eyes snapped open and the vials and candles nearly dropped to the ground before she caught it with her telekinesis. She huffed out a breath and stood up.

'_Sorry. Force of habit_,' Jesse voice echoed in her head. 'Come check out your living room. You're in for a surprise.'

Raven, curious as to what this surprise was, exited her room and walked throughout the hallway, only to be accosted by Starfire. The Tamaranean held a look of confusion on her face.

"Raven? There is an unusual sight that you should see," Starfire said before she grabbed the empath by the hand and zipped to the main lobby. Raven could see Beast Boy and Cyborg also staring outside the window.

"You mind explaining this, Raven?" Cyborg questioned, his eyebrow raised. Raven squeezed past Cyborg to see Jesse floating in the air, waving at all them behind the window.

A few minutes later, the main lobby door opened for Jesse to walk through. The half-demon man looked at his surroundings, nodding his head.

"Snazzy place you got here. How do you pay for all this, exactly?" Jesse commented.

The Titans all regarded Jesse with varying looks of concern and distrust. Jesse stared right back at them, his mind picking up on their thoughts.

'_Could he be a new friend for us_?' - Starfire

'_Dude needs a shave. Seriously_.' - Cyborg.

'_Is he a threat? How'd he get past the security drones on this island?_' - Robin.

'_Who is this guy? And why does he smell like three week old pizza_?' - Beast Boy.

Jesse chuckled at that. "I know. I'm very well aware that I don't smell the best and that I need a shave. A new friend? Dunno about that."

The four Titans' eyes widened at Jesse's deduction of their innermost thoughts. "How did-"

"As for the security drones?" Jesse took a deep breath before black energy coated his entire body. "Couldn't even see me."

Robin turned toward Raven, a serious expression on his face. "Raven? Do you mind explaining our guest?"

"Well, you see-" Raven began before she froze.

'_Let me handle this_.'

Jesse's eyes became milky white as he glanced over all the other four Titans. Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire's eyes widened and they all shouted out in pain, their minds being bombarded by images of the mark of Skath.

"What the hell are you doing?! Are you insane?!" Raven yelled out, her hands glowing with energy.

Jesse held out his hands in a surrender. "Relax. I just projected all images of our first meeting to them. They'll be fine...after that killer headache goes away."

* * *

On the couch of the main lobby, Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire were all nursing headaches and groaning in pain. Beast Boy, on the other hand, was in the kitchen pouring himself some soda with shaking hands.

Jesse placed his rucksack on the circular table in front of the couch. "Now that intros are outta the way, we can get to the good stuff. Alright, maybe not _good_, but majorly important."

"You sure know how to make an entrance," Raven said, sarcasm dripping off her tongue.

"Dazzled you, didn't I?" Jesse snarked back.

Beast Boy walked back and sat onto the couch, his hands still shaking. "O-oh yeah. Y-y-you're definitely R-raven's b-brother," the changeling stammered.

"Only half," Jesse replied. "Anyways, tan skinned space babe; Mega Man; Elf; Bat-boy. You all listening? Good. Sorry about the whole mind thing."

"I've dealt with psychic attacks before. Nothing new to me," Robin said, his hand still on his forehead.

"Raven?" Starfire asked, turning toward her friend. "How were you not originally aware of your half-brother's existence? Surely we would have encountered him during the reign of the Trigon."

"This is all news to me, Star. If I could tell you, I would," the empath replied.

"The real question is: why?" Cyborg posited. "If you knew about her all your life, why choose now to show up?"

Jesse ran a hand through his black hair. "Listen, this is all confusing for me, too. I didn't even know she existed 'til a couple of years ago! I thought me and my brother Jake and a few others were the only kids of Trigon. Look, that doesn't matter right now."

The black haired magic user opened his codex on the table and projected an image of a group of people with skulls as faces riding on horses. "These guys are called 'Shadow Riders'. Assassins that kill anybody that possesses magical abilities or genes. Arcanes as we're also known. I only recently encountered them not too long ago. They...they killed my brother-well, your half-brother too, Raven-they killed Jake." Jesse's voice choked up at the mention of Jake.

"So that's who that was in that projection from last night," Raven deduced. "It wasn't just a greeting-"

"It was a warning." Jesse paced around the table, his face impassive. "These people are trained, expert killers. They can detect arcanes for miles, even continents away. I don't know how they do it, but they do. For this city, that's very bad."

"How so?" Cyborg asked, his face riddled with confusion. "Aside from a few, we haven't come across anyone in Jump who had magic."

"That's the thing. A lot of people out there aren't even aware of it and can go their whole lives not knowing, not believing, or just plain not giving a shit. When I stepped foot in this city, I could sense arcane energy off the charts. Right now, most of you guys in this lobby are rubes," Jesse explained. "That's also why I contacted Raven."

"So you're the reason why she was having a seizure!" Beast Boy accused, pointing a finger at him.

Jesse raised an eyebrow at the changeling, sensing some kind of urgency and protectiveness emanating from him. "Heh. You're certainly excitable, aren't you?"

"That's Beast Boy for you," Raven snarked.

"Aw come on, ma-Raven!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "What is this? Pick on Beast Boy day?"

"That isn't until next week," Raven quipped back.

"Enough!" Robin ordered, silencing the two. "Let the man finish!"

"Thanks, Bat-boy." Jesse took a deep breath. "I can't take on these guys alone. Raven, I need your help to put a stop to these guys which could save this city," Jesse pleaded. "Oh, and I guess the rest of your little band of misfits too since they're a package deal."

"Watch it, man," Cyborg warned. "We aren't just a package deal, we're her friends. Practically her family."

"Fine. Whatever you say, Mega Man."

"We shall take on and triumph over these Riders of the Shadows and protect our home!" Starfire announced, her voice filled with fire.

"Wait!" Robin exclaimed, getting up to his feet. "How can-"

"There's the thing. You don't know if you can trust me," Jesse interrupted. "By that token, I don't know if you lot are up for the job. However, I believe that it would be in yours and this city's best interest if we worked together to stop them. Let's not ruin that by petty things such as suspicion and distrust, shall we?"

Robin and Jesse sized each other up, looking for anything odd about the other. The Boy Wonder scowled at the magician.

"If you try anything..."

"Rest assured, if I was trying anything, you'd all be dead. You and I are the only things standing between the Shadow Riders and this city." Jesse sighed, tired. "Please help me get rid of these bastards. You're all my only option."

Robin's scowl lessened at hearing the exhausted tone of Jesse's voice. "Fine. You got yourself a deal."

"I knew you'd make the right decision," Jesse said. "Now, I only have one other question: where's the nearest pizza joint? I'm starving."

"I know, right?!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

* * *

**Jesse's kind of a dick, isn't he?**

**Don't worry. The Titans will also get as much exposure as Jesse. I don't want him to hog all the spotlight later on.**


	4. A Disturbance Arises

Three hundred and eighty one miles from Jump City lie the most populated city in California: Los Angeles. Famous for the palm trees, Hollywood, and the numerous polluted, but still nice to look at, beaches. However, it is not the palm trees, the Walk of Fame, or the beaches that we were looking at right now.

It is an old warehouse. One would believe that there is nothing about this place that sticks out; just your usual building where people would store cars, boxes of junk that they no longer need, or drugs if they were the more unscrupulous kind of person. As of right now, it is not home to any of those things. Instead, it belongs to the Shadow Riders for now.

In a corner of the warehouse, the Riders had a middle aged man chained up and hanging by his wrists, his face and body battered by the Riders punching and stabbing into him.

Away from the rest of the riders, Middleton was speaking with Crooke. "What a wonderful city, this is. Sunny, warm-"

"-ripe with arcanes," Crooke finished.

"Indeed. Now why didn't we come here, sooner?" Middleton wondered.

"Well, New York did have its fair share. Let's not kid ourselves," Crooke replied.

"Only upstate and well hidden. Here?" Middleton took a huge whiff of the air around him. "You just...you can't miss them."

Crooke looked at the cat o' nine tails in his hand. "Sire? If I may ask: must we kill this one?"

"Don't tell me you're beginning to go soft on me, Crooke," Middleton said, his tone disapproving. "Why would we possibly not want to kill this one?"

"Go soft? Me? Come now, Middleton. You know me better than that," Crooke rebutted. "Of course not. I believe we can turn this one."

"Of course we can," Middleton confirmed.

"The question is: do we need him?"

Middleton placed his hand on Crooke's shoulder and bore into his eye sockets with a blank look. "We need all hands on deck if we are to have any semblance of efficiency taking on the arcane. Lord only knows how slithery and cunning some of them could be."

"Exactly, sire!" Crooke said, enthusiastic. "If we turned one of the arcanes, we could have a better chance of making our war a hell of a lot easier than it is currently. Not that I'm saying it's easy."

"I understand the sentiment." Middleton turned his head up at the ceiling, weighing the option in his head. "We already have Atkinson, but with the power of an arcane, we can get this over with sooner."

"So you will do it?" Crooke wondered.

Middleton did not say anything, only cocking his head for Crooke to follow him. The two approached the rest of the Shadow Riders, who were currently surrounding the beaten middle aged man. Middleton forced his way through his soldiers and stood face to face with his victim.

The man thrashed about from the chains that were securing him, prompting Middleton to grab him by the top of his head.

"Do not resist. You knew this was coming. Fate, however, has decided to have mercy on you," Middleton said, his voice chilly and monotone.

"What the hell are you *cough* t-talking about? I don't understand..." the man said, his voice raspy and weak.

"You will soon."

As he finished that statement, Middleton opened his mouth and his eyes turned red. Gray energy shot from his mouth and enveloped the hapless middle aged man, who began screaming in pain and fear. After a few seconds, the Shadow Riders saw that the man now sported a skull for a head and wore black armor.

"Rise, new Rider!" Middleton boomed. The rest of the Shadow Riders looked on in curiosity.

Middleton turned to his soldiers. "Brothers and sisters! Take a look! Another soul has joined us in our glorious war against the arcane! Now, they stand even less of a chance than before! Who are we?!"

"RIDERS!" they all chorused.

"Who are the rightful rulers of this world?!"

"MANKIND!"

"EXCELLENT!" Middleton exclaimed. "We are close to our destination. We shall leave at the next dawn. Soon, we shall save this world and purge it of the arcane scum! In the meantime, Los Angeles and its arcanes are yours for the taking!"

The Riders all whooped and clapped and raised up their arms, cheering at the declaration. They all proceeded to rush out of the warehouse, eager to take on the entire city.

"Sire," a voice said to Middleton, who turned toward the source.

"Yes, Atkinson?"

"There's a problem. I can't locate our runner. This city he's taken refuge in: there's so many arcane signatures that he's blended in," Atkinson told him.

"Only a slight hiccup, my good man," Middleton told him. "Once we reach there, he'll show his face."

"That's not the only thing I'm worried about," Atkinson said. "Have you ever heard of this group called 'Teen Titans'? Apparently, they are the guardians of our destination."

Middleton scoffed at the news. "Mere children. Most likely haven't taken on someone of our caliber. There's nothing to be cautious about, Atkinson. I am curious, though."

"Should we tell Trip to strike?" Atkinson asked.

"Not yet," Middleton ordered. "The timing is not yet right."

* * *

It was not usually the pizza parlor that they frequented, but the Titans still loved the place, no problem. Situated on a pier, there was a nice view of ocean just around 200 feet away. The Titans themselves were all sitting at a table with an umbrella on it, digging into some cheese pizza. Why cheese?

"PEPPERONI!"

"GREEN PEPPERS!"

"PEPPERONI!"

"GREEN PEPPERS!"

There's your reason.

Robin walked over to the table, placing his communicator in his pocket. "Just got off the line with Titans East. I asked Bumblebee to cross-reference anything with Shadow Riders. Picked up nothing."

Cyborg swallowed the pizza in his mouth. "Doesn't really mean anything. We didn't know about the HIVE FIVE until they showed up out of the ether one day. Same thing with the Brotherhood of Evil."

"I knew about the Brotherhood!" Beast Boy corrected, talking with his mouth full.

"Yet you don't know about manners," Raven snarked, making the changeling roll his eyes.

'Why don't you lay off the guy, huh?' Jesse voice reverberated in her head. Raven glared over at Jesse, who was standing by the rail looking out at the sea.

"Robin, you should not be in the rush to assume that he is being dishonest," Starfire reasoned.

The Boy Wonder groaned. "I'm not doubting that these guys are real, but...there's something about this that just doesn't make a lot of sense," Robin replied. He took a bite of the pizza and swallowed quickly. "Somebody-the Justice League, Titans East-someone out there would've noticed at this point."

As the other members of the team discussed this matter among themselves, Beast Boy took this opportunity to walk up next to Jesse, who was still enjoying the view of the ocean.

"Hey there, dude," Beast Boy began. The shapeshifter noticed that Jesse did not have on his hooded trench coat, revealing that he wore a plain, black T-shirt underneath.

"Hey," Jesse replied.

"Y'know, back at the Tower-"

"Yes, I meant every single word of what I said back there. I wanted Raven's help at first, but you guys would tag along anyway, so why not? Guess I shouldn't have been a bit more tactful with that. Sorry." Jesse said, shrugging.

Beast Boy could only blink at Jesse, astonished.

"We're gonna need to get you a longer attention span, elf." Jesse soon smirked knowingly. "Yes, that's my nickname for you. No, I'm not trying to be an a-hole, I give almost everyone nicknames, and third: everyone wishes they could read minds. Not always a good thing, though."

"But you can always be one step ahead of everybody and know them without getting to know them," Beast Boy said. "It would also help a lot with wom-"

"Let's...not even go there, elf. That's a whole 'nother ball park," Jesse interrupted. "And yeah, I'm sure you need no help in that department," he snarked.

"How did-"

"I know everything you're thinking. By the way, I now know that you think Raven's at her most attractive without that cloak. A little too much info, but whatever."

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his sheepishly before clearing his throat.

"Um, dude?" Beast Boy said. "How old are you?"

Jesse raised an eyebrow at the question. "You should know that it's not very polite to ask someone their age so blatantly."

"Oh, uh, sorry abou-"

"I'm sure you know that there will be consequences," Jesse continued, a dark look on his face. "Do wanna know what happens now?"

Beast Boy shrank back, intimidated. He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable hit, when Jesse suddenly put him in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

"Nah, I'm just kidding, you little knucklehead," he teased. "Really fooled you there, didn't I?"

The shapeshifter escaped from Jesse's grasp and laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. Y-you got me there."

A wicked idea soon came to the dark haired magician.

"Hey? Wanna see something funny? Keep your eye on Boy Wonder over there," Jesse said. He closed his eyes and Beast Boy raised an eyebrow before turning his head to see Robin screaming in a very high pitched voice and jumping into Starfire's arms. Beast Boy laughed at the sight.

"Dude, what did you do?"

Jesse opened his eyes back up. "Just gave him an image of a bunch of clowns coming out of a clown car. You're welcome," Jesse said, looking proud of himself.

"Dude, anyone who can get one over on Robin like that is cool with me," Beast Boy cheered. "You wanna get some of that pizza over there?"

"I got a better one," Jesse said. "गिवे मे अ बुर्गेर," (*) he whispered, conjuring up a burger. Beast Boy's eyes twinkled at the action.

"You're a food wizard!" the changeling beamed. "Hi-five!"

Jesse only blinked at the gesture. "How about we settle for a friendly, amused nod?"

Beast Boy deflated at that, but obliged him.

The two walked back over to the table, with a red-faced, embarrassed Robin being held by Starfire. The leader was glaring daggers at Jesse. "You guys are awfully quiet," the telepath said.

"Yeah, without Beast Boy, it tends to get like that," Raven joked. Beast Boy sighed overdramatically, understanding what she was doing.

"Why does she always abuse me, dudes?" he whimpered, playing along. He brought out some crocodile tears too just for emphasis.

"Come on, grass stain, you know you love it," Cyborg teased.

"Why would Beast Boy enjoy Raven acting like the klorbag?" sweet, naïve Starfire wondered, prompting Jesse to raise an eyebrow.

"Act like a what?" Jesse said, utterly confused.

"It's her native language. You get used to it," Raven deadpanned, shrugging.

Robin removed himself from Starfire's grasp. "If you were listening in-"

"-you're wondering how you never knew of the Riders. They usually stick to the pitch black of night and don't involve rubes."

"Stop interrupting me!" Robin ordered.

"Whoa! Calm down, Boy Wonder," Jesse reasoned, holding his hands out.

Robin huffed out a breath before running a hand through his spiky hair. "You didn't have to show me those visions of clowns," he mumbled. The rest of the team looked on, baffled that their leader could sound so pouty and petulant.

"All joking aside. Robin? We should probably head back to the Tower. Because I could really use some sleep right now, and I know you want some cuddle time with the tan skinned space babe right here," Jesse suggested. "Before hand, I gotta get me a beer."

* * *

It was four hours later until the two sorcerers agreed to their idea. By this point, sundown had already approached. Night was rapidly approaching.

Raven, Jesse, and Beast Boy were on the rooftop. A circle with a pentagram on it was drawn on the ground, along with a medium sized vial full of liquid.

"Let me repeat this," Raven began, reading from one of her ancient codices. "Nutmeg, lithium, alcohol, and the blood of a chicken."

"Weird, but okay," Jesse commented.

"It's a good thing that all our TV remotes uses lithium batteries," Beast Boy said. "But what is this supposed to do again?"

"This spell is meant to place a cloaking effect on anyone or anyplace," Raven said. "When me and Jesse cast this, it will make the tower invisible to any malevolent forces."

"The Riders probably already saw you when you looked at that message. This will make it so that they don't find out exactly where you and your friends live," Jesse said.

"Um, guys?" Beast Boy rang out, raising his hand as if he was in school. "Why exactly do you need me here?"

"Oh, I was getting to that." Jesse used his telekinesis to pull out a scalpel and cut the changeling on the arm enough to draw blood. The blood dripped onto the ground in the circle.

"OW!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "What the eff, yo?!"

"Exactly! What are you doing?!" Raven harshly questioned.

"What?" Jesse said, confused. "It said the blood of a chicken and he can turn into a chicken, so why not?"

"Ow..." Beast Boy moaned dramatically.

"Oh, stop whining. You're fine," Raven admonished. Jesse walked over to his half-sister and looked at her codex.

"Ancient Sumerian? Damn, I'm rusty at that," the dark haired magician complained.

"There's no Sanskrit translation," Raven said. "How good are you at Latin?"

"I know it. Let's get this started," Jesse said, clapping his hands together.

Beast Boy backed away as the two sorcerers entered the circle, with Raven holding the contents of the vial. She poured the odd mixture onto the ground and it began to sizzle.

"Repeat after me," Raven ordered.

"A malo defende locus iste! Status malus, non fiat vis invenire locus iste! Expelle eos, qui et voluntate et ill!" (**) Raven and Jesse chorused. "A malo defende locus iste! Status malus, non fiat vis invenire locus iste! Expelle eos, qui et voluntate et ill!"

A bright essence began to envelop not only the rooftop, but to the entirety of the tower, extending all the way down to the dirt of the island. The essence pulsated for a few seconds before finally coming to an end.

Raven and Jesse stepped out of the circle, breathing heavily.

"What just happened, mama?!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Now this place is shielded for whenever we see the Shadow Riders," Raven answered.

Jesse nodded in agreement. "How long do you think this should hold?"

"As long as it needs to. This is what the monks of Azarath would use to hide things," the violet haired empath said. All three on the rooftop turned their heads to see the hatch open and Robin's head to pop up.

"You all need to see this! It's important," The Boy Wonder ordered.

* * *

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Cyborg whispered.

The Titans plus Jesse were all standing in front of the large TV monitor, which was showing images of dead bodies strung up in several different fashions and injured in many different ways.

"All of Los Angeles. Streets littered with corpses," Robin said, his eyes wide. "That's the only place. Look." More images popped up on screen, including Palm Springs, Indio, Anaheim, and Riverside.

"Why would they be so cruel as to commit such insufferable atrocities?!" Starfire raged.

"Oh no. Shit! I thought they would've been at least in Utah at this point!" Jesse complained. "They've gotten faster."

Before anyone else could voice their outrage, the alarm in the Tower went off.

"Trouble!" Robin exclaimed, bringing up the footage of Jump City. The footage was that of a skulled man on horseback terrorizing an intersection.

"No..." Jesse whispered, his eyes wide. "No, no, no..."

* * *

**(*): Give me a burger.**

**(**): Shield this place from evil! Let no malevolent force find this place! Banish those with ill intentions who do!**


	5. The Disturbance and the Revelation

Jesse was hyperventilating at the same time that the Titans were getting ready to move out. "Oh dear God," he whispered shakily.

"Titans! Move!" Robin ordered, with everyone else besides Jesse exiting the lobby.

Starfire lagged behind the others and saw the dark haired magician panicking. "Come now, Jesse! We have to do the 'kicking of the ass!'" Starfire beckoned, grabbing him by the arm. Jesse attempted to pull back, but was no match for the alien girl's strength.

"Please God, no! No, they're gonna...they're gonna kill me!" Jesse rambled. "Me, you, everyone, no one's safe. Oh God, why?!"

Starfire turned to look at him, concern etched on her face. "These riders of the shadows will not be doing any harm to you or anyone else, new friend. They will have to fight through us if they want the chance."

"C-can you really stop them?" Jesse questioned.

"We will. We have taken on greater threats than this," Starfire said firmly. She let go of Jesse's arm. "Let us hurry!"

Jesse squeezed his eyes closed and shook his head, shaking off any remnant of panic. "I'll catch up."

Starfire nodded and flew to catch up with the rest of the Titans. Jesse stuck his right arm out and summoned a portal, entering it.

* * *

Panic spread through the streets as the man on horseback rode through the intersection, swinging his two swords at the scurrying citizens. He turned his head and sensed an anomaly within the crowd. "Arcanes," he mumbled. He jumped over a car and cornered two people.

The Shadow Rider known as Trip stared down at the two beings in front of him: a young mother and her toddler son. The two held each other in fear, waiting for their impending doom.

"There's no escape from this. You knew that the moment you were born," Trip growled, raising one of his swords. He brought it down swiftly and without mercy, eager to end bother of their lives.

*CLANK*

Trip looked on, impassive, as Robin blocked his sword with his bo-staff.

"Go! Get out of here!" Robin ordered to the mother and son, who heeded his advice with no hesitation.

"Brave of you, boy," Trip commented. He used his other sword to swipe at Robin's head. The Boy Wonder jumped away and beckoned him with a 'bring it' gesture. Trip charged toward him before being knocked off by Starfire's star bolts. The rest of the Titans followed after her.

"Raven! Beast Boy! Get the civilians to safety!" Robin ordered. The two nodded and ran off toward the fearful crowds. "Starfire. Cyborg. Let's take him down a notch."

Robin charged at Trip and engaged him in battle. His swords and Robin's bo-staff clanked and swiped at air, the two never landing a hit on each other. That is, until Robin swept Trip's legs from under him. He attempted to hit Trip with his staff while the rider was downed, only for Trip to roll away and quickly recover. Robin was too late to block a hit from the hilt of Trip's right sword and was sent flying into a tree.

Cyborg jumped into the fray with a blast from his sonic cannon, which bounced off Trip's armor harmlessly. The half-man, half-machine's eyes narrowed in frustration as he jumped in the air and punched the man, sending him back a few feet. Starfire's starbolts mildly disoriented him from all the dust emerging from the impact.

"I actually felt that. Impressive," Trip said.

"There's more where that came from," Cyborg retorted, cracking his knuckles.

The two faced off again and Cyborg prepared to blast another beam of sonic energy, this time directed at Trip's skull face; Trip, however, threw dirt in Cyborg's good eye and grabbed his cannon arm, making Cyborg blast at Starfire instead, knocking the alien out of the sky. Afterwards, Trip headbutted Cyborg and punched him twice in the face, finishing it off by pushing him onto the ground.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven's voice called out. Trip turned to see a park bench rapidly approaching him. The bench made contact with Trip, but barely fazed him.

"You!" he exclaimed, pointing one of his swords at Raven. The empath used her telekinesis to restrain Trip, allowing for a quickly approaching green cheetah to run up to him. The cheetah soon transformed into a spider monkey and kicked him in the skull face. Beast Boy landed twenty feet away from Trip, near the downed Cyborg.

"Cy! You ok, dude?!" Beast Boy exclaimed, helping his friend up.

"I could use some Tylenol right about now, grass stain," Cyborg joked. His face then turned serious as he witnessed Raven tangling with Trip.

"Such power!" Trip said, dodging a stream of water Raven threw at him. "Your attacks are useless against me, girl. There is no-"

He was cut off when a bright green light blinded him. Starfire swooped over to him and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him high into the sky.

"Cease your assault on us!" the alien exclaimed. "You are outnumbered!"

As he was being choked, Trip reached one of his hands out and grabbed Starfire's hair, roughly yanking it; she yelled out in pain but still maintained her grip on him. The two tangled about in the air, with Trip attempting to wrestle himself out of her strong grasp. He jabbed two of his fingers into both of her eyes, stunning her. She dropped him and put her hands to her irritated eyes. Trip landed on his feet, cracking the ground underneath him.

"Alright Titans!" Robin said, taking out one of his grappling guns. "At the same time!"

Before they could do so, a portal emerged and out walked Jesse. "You guys seem to be having fun," he snarked.

The dark haired magician was suddenly punched in the face by Trip, sending him to the floor.

"Goddammit!" Jesse shouted, his mouth spewing blood. He looked up at Trip and froze.

"Time to meet your end, arcane," Trip said, getting ready to stab Jesse with one of his swords. However, Beast Boy transformed into a gorilla and tackled him, knocking the swords out of his hands.

Trip and Beast Boy struggled with each other, locking hands and pushing against one another. It looked like Beast Boy had the upper hand in the situation; however, either willingly or unwillingly, he changed back into his human form. Trip stomped on his foot and punched him in the head. He then grasped Beast Boy by the hair and began to bash his face into the grass.

It seemed to never end until Trip was telekinetically pulled away from Beast Boy. Raven floated down to the injured changeling, who moaned in pain as he saw her.

"Get up," she ordered. Beast Boy coughed into his right hand.

"Stop milking it," she continued.

"Rae Rae?"

"_Don't_ call me that," she insisted, helping him up.

"You saved me," Beast Boy said.

"Let's not make it a big deal," she replied, sending the shapeshifter a small smile.

He smiled back and the two ran back over to the other Titans, who were struggling with keeping Trip still. Beast Boy morphed into a snake and coiled around the man while Raven used her telekinesis once more to bind him.

"Jesse!" Robin shouted. The dark haired magician spat out blood and massaged his jaw as he approached the scuffle.

"Come on, man! We can't keep holding him for much longer," Cyborg commented, his legs flailing about as Trip struggled with all the Titans.

Jesse could only stare at Trip in horror. His breathing quickened and his hands became clammy. Images of men on horseback chasing him and his brother flashed through his mind.

"Jesse! Focus!" Raven called out, bringing the young man back to the present.

Huffing out a breath, Jesse steeled himself and pointed his left index finger at Trip. "स्लीप् नोव," (*) he shouted. Trip stopped moving and was now asleep, collapsing onto the ground.

The Titans and Jesse all looked at each other, relieved that this battle was over.

* * *

Raven and Jesse stared behind the glass of the interrogation room at the Shadow Rider, sitting in a chair and bound by the arms with Robin's multiple grappling ropes.

"Is that him?" Raven asked Jesse, who darted his eyes to her. "Did he-"

"No. Not him," Jesse answered. "This guy has different thoughts. Different emotions from the one I showed you in that vision."

"Well, he's one of them. That's a start," Raven replied.

"I should hope so," Jesse said.

* * *

In Cyborg's lab, Robin and the aforementioned half-machine were staring at the two swords that belonged to Trip.

"It's all so odd," Cyborg began, his robotic eye scanning the weapons. "These look like they were made during medieval times, but I've run it through the search and there's no match for any metal on this planet. Armor is the same material."

"Nth metal, maybe?" Robin suggested.

"Nah, I ruled that out. Seems to be custom-made if you could custom make metal."

Robin growled in frustration. "This is only bringing us more questions than answers," the Boy Wonder stated, crossing his arms. "Doesn't anything about this whole situation seem off to you? As soon as we get a report about these Shadow Riders, one of them emerges from out of nowhere."

"Could just be a mere coincidence," Cyborg reasoned.

"No, Cyborg. It seems too neat. Jesse told us that these men were trained killers; if that were the case, then our little friend in the interrogation room would've gone undetected."

"Remember, there was the report about them in L.A. Seemed pretty blatant and outrageous to me," Cyborg retorted.

"Whatever the case may be, I'm gonna go have a little chat with our knight in black armor," Robin scowled.

* * *

Jesse walked into the main lobby to see Beast Boy and Starfire on the couch, holding an ice pack to his head with a drink of water beside him.

"Hey there, dude," Beast Boy greeted as Jesse sat next to him.

"Greetings, Jesse," Starfire said.

"You look like shit," Jesse commented, making Beast Boy stick his tongue out at him. Starfire giggled at the changeling's expression.

"So those are the Shadow bozos? Up close, they look like something out of the Renaissance Fair," Beast Boy said.

"Ain't that the truth," Jesse replied. "I was half-expecting him to yell out 'en garde, knave!' and to call the women 'maidens'."

Beast Boy laughed at that and put the ice pack on the table. "You sure took your sweet time trying to help us back there. What gives?"

"Not really much of a fighter," Jesse began. "I can't even remember all the times I'd get my ass kicked back in D.C."

"Thought you were more of a Gotham-ite like Robin," Beast Boy replied before putting his hands to his mouth. "Uh-oh. I just revealed something personal about the dude."

"He always was most private about his upbringing," Starfire commented.

"Nah. Brooklyn and D.C. bred right here. I've been to Gotham, though. Place is saturated in supernatural energy."

"So that's why everyone there is a basket case!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Including the Man of Bats? He does not appear to be a case of baskets," Starfire retorted.

'Raven, you have some of the most interesting friends,' Jesse thought. He looked at Beast Boy and Starfire with an expression of regret.

"What is troubling you, Jesse?" Starfire wondered.

"I...I fucked up," he admitted. "I should've been there sooner like you all were. It would've made things easier. Instead, I froze up. Got scared. I'm not supposed to do fear."

"Now you sound like Raven," Beast Boy observed. "She thought she didn't get scared, too."

"Is that a fact?" Jesse asked.

"Yup. Totally squeamish when it comes to scary movies," Beast Boy said.

Jesse sighed. "I thought that I'd be prepared to take these guys head on instead of running, but I wasn't."

Starfire looked toward the ground and then back at Jesse. "It reminds me of the Gordanians who held me captive and placed me into slavery. Just like you, I initially believed that I would be mentally prepared for a future confrontation. I too did the freezing up as you would say. It nearly cost me my life."

Starfire placed her hand on Jesse's shoulder. "Yeah, we could do without the touching," he snarked, removing her hand.

"Apologies. The point of the matter is: everyone is frightened in battle. What counts is overcoming it," Starfire said. "The hero shows no fear. The fool _knows_ no fear. It is the fool who is maimed first."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow at that. "Wow. Never thought of it like that, Star."

"Thinking, huh? Don't hurt yourself," Jesse quipped.

"I'm gonna let that one slide," Beast Boy retorted.

The changeling stared up at the ceiling. "Something weird happened out there. I don't know why but when I was fighting that guy, there was something in the back of my head that forced me to turn human again."

"Power of suggestion," Jesse answered. "Classic trick. How these guys know it is beyond me."

* * *

In the interrogation room, Robin stared down at the bound up Trip, a tension thick between the two.

"Let's start with the easy questions," Robin started. "Who are you?"

"My name is not of any importance to you," Trip replied. "It is what I do that's the most important."

"And what exactly do you do?" Robin asked.

"Shouldn't a boy like you not be concerned with things of this magnitude?" Trip asked, prompting Robin to smash his bo-staff on the table.

"Remember, I'm the one asking the questions here," Robin said with intensity.

"Intimidation. A tool for those not intelligent enough to get things on their own merit," Trip commented.

Robin scowled and clenched his fists. "If you don't start answering my questions soon, you're gonna see just how intimidating I am."

Trip 'hmph'-ed and decided to oblige the Boy Wonder. "If you must know, I am Trip. A Shadow Rider. Part of an army sent down to purge the arcane scum from this planet."

"So you're a genocidal maniac? Typical," Robin said snidely.

"Maniac? Far from it. We're trying to save this world, just like you and your band of children," Trip said.

"Don't compare my team to yours. We're nothing alike," Robin said, struggling to keep his tone neutral. "The Titans have spent a great deal of time fighting against people like you."

"Not like us, boy." Trip examined Robin with a critical eye. "You believe yourselves to be so righteous protecting the arcanes, don't you? Well you aren't. We're doing you a favor by getting rid of them."

"The moment you started killing innocent people-"

"Innocent?!" Trip said, outraged. "Is that supposed to be funny?! Just by being born, these arcanes are anything but innocent! Little by little, they strip away the ownership of this planet from the rightful ones: mankind."

"Nobody owns this planet," Robin retorted. "This is wasting time. You're supposed to be experts. Why this guns a blazing attack?"

"You're correct," Trip began. "We are experts. We've managed to go undetected for centuries, possibly even millennia. And right now, I've gaged you and the arcanes in this building's abilities."

Before Robin could press him any further, the Boy Wonder watched as Trip seemingly disintegrated into nothingness, leaving behind only a smoky, black essence that lingered for a few seconds.

The Boy Wonder's eyes widened at the realization.

"This was all a test," Robin whispered.

* * *

**Our first full action scene. Yay.**

**(*): Sleep now.**


	6. A Premonition

Breakfast time was always a time of momentary reprieve or a time of reflection for the Titans. Usually, the friends would sit together and talk about things either related to their duties as protectors or about meaningless, frivolous subjects. At this moment, with their new ally among them, they discussed matters of importance.

"Mmm...oh, yeah. This is a good steak."

Or not.

The Titans all watched with interest and disgust as Jesse practically wolfed down the steak and eggs that Cyborg had made for everyone except for Beast Boy, who stuck with his tofu as always.

Jesse looked up at the rest of them, swallowing his steak. "Maybe I was wrong about you guys. If you can cook this good, Mega Man, I might just have to steal you away from the rest of these bozos."

Cyborg shrugged at the praise. "At least _somebody _around here appreciates my cookin'," he commented, his eyes set on Beast Boy, who stuck out his tongue in response.

Robin took a sip of his coffee. "From what I gathered of my interrogation last night, we were being tested. It wasn't a real threat. It was just to see what we were capable of."

"Make sense," Jesse said. "Sort of. A lot of their kills tend to be defenseless and weak. Knowing that you guys will probably get involved, they wanna see how strong you are so they can take you out when you get in their way."

"It's kinda like, when you watch a cat play with a mouse," Beast Boy added.

"Profound for you, grass stain," Cyborg joked, smirking at the changeling.

Robin crossed his arms. "He also said that the Riders are trying to save this world from magical beings," he continued.

"Well that's stupid!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "If they did that, who would entertain kids at birthday parties?! Where would all the swamis go?!"

Jesse snorted, Robin and Cyborg groaned, and Starfire looked honestly thoughtful. "Perhaps the mimes? she suggested.

"I don't trust anything that quiet, Star. They're plotting against all kids," Beast Boy replied.

"Ain't that the truth," Jesse said. He levitated his plate over to the sink, depositing it. "Where's Little Miss Sunshine?"

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "In her room meditating like she always does."

"Don't knock meditation, elf. It might make you smarter," Jesse sniped.

"Don't you do it?"

Jesse chuckled. "Me? Not a chance."

Beast Boy got up from his seat and started walking down the hallway. "I'm gonna go check up on Rae-Rae."

'_Good luck there, Romeo. Try not to embarrass yourself_,' Jesse said in the shapeshifter's mind. Beast Boy scoffed and continued on.

* * *

Robin stood in front of the Tower's supercomputers. "I might need to add some more security measures just in case these Shadow Riders try to ambush us here."

"Robin?" Cyborg began, moving toward his leader. "We've already got the drones. What more do you want? Sharks with laser beams attached to their heads?"

Jesse clapped his hands and pointed at Cyborg. "HA!" he exclaimed, bringing on confused looks to the two. "Oh, uh...I-I understood that reference," the magician said, rubbing the back of his head. His expression soon turned serious.

"Yesterday, me and Raven placed a cloaking spell on this tower. When the Shadow Riders inevitably get to us, they won't find this place. For a little while at least."

"So it is temporary?" Starfire questioned. "If that is true, was there truly a point in the spell?"

Jesse sighed, ready for another explanation. "Ok, so it's like this: you remember when I said that some people are arcane and some aren't? The same applies with objects and people. Some places themselves give off arcane luster; certain buildings, houses, you name it. Given that Raven most likely has a ton of spell books and artifacts and shit in her room, it gives off an aura that's weak but still detectable."

"If I knew that, I'd have told her to get rid of them," Robin commented.

Cyborg chuckled and shook his head. "And have her go all four eyed demon on you? Is it really worth it, man?"

"Raven would never dare hurt us," Starfire rang up. "Although in Beast Boy's case..."

"The grass stain does kind of annoy her, Star," Cyborg said. "And with her powers...it's a miracle she didn't seal him up in one of her books or in some other dimension."

"Sheesh, she's got issues," Jesse said. "Then again, don't we all?"

* * *

Beast Boy walked down the hallways toward Raven's room; the first thing he noticed was that the door was wide open. "Raven?" he called out.

No response.

"Rae Rae?"

Still no response.

Beast Boy swallowed any fear he might have had and walked inside Raven's dark room. "Mama, are you sleepin' or somethin-"

His question stopped when he witnessed the sight in front of him: Raven, on her bed, with milky white eyes and convulsing violently. Reacting, Beast Boy closed the door behind him and made his way to the empath.

"Raven! Rae!" Beast Boy exclaimed, trying to hold her and stop the convulsion. "Rae Rae! What's wrong?! Calm down! Calm down, girl!"

The sorceress continued to seize until she suddenly sprung up, her milky white eyes dissolving back to their usual amethyst color. Raven panted heavily, putting her right hand up to her forehead.

"You alright, Rae?" Beast Boy said, motioning over to touch her. The empath pushed his hand away and settled on the other side of her bed.

"No. No, it's not-not real. It's not real," Raven mumbled.

Beast Boy moved so that he was next to her. "What isn't real?" he questioned. He turned his attention to her bedroom door. "I can get Robin and the oth-"

"NO!" Raven exclaimed, grabbing the changeling almost feverishly. "Please no. Please no." One of the lightbulbs in the hallway outside broke, a result of Raven's emotional state.

"It's alright, mama. I'm here. I'm real," Beast Boy comforted, putting his arm around her. Surprisingly, she didn't push him away or toss him out violently like she normally would. The two remained in this position for around ten minutes, however, it felt like an eternity.

After some time, Raven finally managed to speak up once more. "I saw you. All of you."

"Raven, what did you see?" the changeling asked. He moved his head to look at Raven's face; were it not for her hauntingly wide eyes, he would say that it was her default expression.

"The Shadow Riders. You, Robin, Jesse. All of you. Dead. Or dying," Raven rambled, her voice monotone.

"What else?"

"Nothing. Darkness. Empty void."

Beast Boy had no real response for this kind of situation, so he only hugged her tighter. Raven, unnaturally, leaned into his embrace.

"R-raven?" the shapeshifter started, shaky. "What's happening?"

The half-demoness said nothing, which only filled Beast Boy with a greater sense of dread.

* * *

Ventura, California was the next city that the Shadow Riders rode through. Unfortunately for the group, this city was not as special as Los Angeles.

"Nothing here," Crooke growled.

"I feel your disappointment, Crooke," Atkinson replied. "Perhaps the next city over will provide us with some amusement."

Middleton slowed his horse down and settled to Atkinson's left hand side. "While that may be the case, let us not forget what we came for."

"Of course, sire," Crooke responded. "Our little half-demon runner and the girl from your vision."

"Trip's report of his debacle was interesting to say the least," Middleton continued. "The girl is apparently half-demon also. The rest of these 'Titans' are rubes...possibly except for one."

"And who might that be, sire?" Crooke asked.

Middleton was going to answer, but saw that Trip was riding along on his right hand side. "The green one. He may be arcane as well. He had such raw, primal energy!" Trip said.

"Primal?" Middleton said.

"As if the entire animal kingdom wished to tear me to bits!" Trip exclaimed. "It would have been overwhelming were it not for the two arcane half-demons present."

"Hmm," Middleton hummed. "We might have a tougher time than I anticipated. No matter. This will just make our inevitable victory all the more glorious!"

* * *

"Raven, you must calm yourself. Speak clearly!"

The firm tone came from Starfire as the rest of the Titans all wore varying expressions of seriousness and concern.

Raven nodded and sipped her tea which lied on the living room table. "I saw everything. A giant battle, you and Robin being stabbed-"

The aforementioned leader took notice of the appliances in the kitchen beginning to shake.

"-it was all a mess. A bloody mess," Raven continued. She took a deep breath to steel herself, which made the kitchen appliances stop shaking.

"I've never had premonitions like this before. I didn't even think I could see into the future," the empath said, her tone now taking on one of confusion.

"So it wasn't just a bad dream?" Robin wondered.

"Dude, I saw her on the bed freaking out with those weird eyes!" Beast Boy said.

"This was not a dream, Robin. This was all real," Raven corroborated.

Jesse, stone faced, moved in front of Raven and put both his hands on her shoulders. "How old are you?"

"What does that have to do-"

"How. Old?" Jesse repeated.

Raven glanced right back at him. "Only seventeen."

"I see."

Jesse moved away from Raven and began to pace around. "This could only mean two things: either you've developed some kind of psychic link with the Shadow Riders, or something else is happening. Something I'm familiar with."

"What could be troubling our friend, Jesse?"

Jesse's eyes darted around before finally settling back on the Titans. "She's finally developed her specialty power."

* * *

**All build up to the battle with the Shadow Riders. Do y'all think this story is moving too slow or too fast?**


	7. Fears and a Flashback

**Wow. I actually got six followers on this little story. I guess that counts for something. Anyways, enjoy. :)**

* * *

Outside of Titans Tower, Raven sat in the sand, hugging her knees and letting the sand dance around her toes. Her blank face stared at the sunset over the ocean. The waves crashing and reforming brought a peace to the half-demon girl that she couldn't explain.

She thought back to what Jesse had said earlier; a specialty power? Raven swore that she read every book on Azarathian and demon biology and no where in her studies was this ever mentioned. The natural instinct was to assume Jesse was lying, but she sensed no malice within him; that, or he was good at hiding it.

Those premonitions, though...she was beginning to wonder if they were just illusions or if they were real.

With her empathic senses flaring, Raven turned her head to see Beast Boy, also barefoot, approaching her. "Hey Rae," he greeted.

She rolled her eyes at that name. "My name is Ra-ven, not Rae," Raven complained, her voice monotone. Beast Boy chuckled and sat down next to her.

"You holdin' up?" he asked.

"I'm fine. For now at least," Raven answered, wiggling her toes in the sand.

A few moments of awkward silence passed before Beast Boy decided to speak up. "So, um..." he began. "Hours ago. You were-"

"I'm well aware of what happened. You don't have to remind me," Raven interrupted sharply, making Beast Boy divert his eyes to the ground.

Raven sighed and spoke up again. "I'm sorry, it's just...this is all really new to me. I didn't even think I could develop more powers. Especially now of all times." Her voice became soft at the last line.

The changeling was so unused to hearing Raven sound like this, so he mustered up no response.

"The things I saw in those visions; they were so gruesome and graphic," Raven said. "I know they were just projections of what might happen in the future, but I feel like there's no way we can stop it."

"Don't say that, Raven," Beast Boy responded. "We stopped you-know-who and you were saying that it was all a prophecy. I know this is gonna be exactly the same."

Raven wished she could share the shapeshifter's optimism. "I know that. I thank Azar every single day that we were able to put an end to the apocalypse all those years ago." She moved closer to Beast Boy. "But this was different. I don't really know who these people are. At least with Trigon, we did, even if it was at the last minute."

The empath decided to change the subject. "You weren't supposed to see me like that. Now you think I'm weak."

Beast Boy's eyes widened at that. "What? No. No Rae, I don't-"

"Don't lie to me!" she replied, her voice raised. "You think I'm fragile! That I'll fly off the handle at any moment! Go ahead, just admit it!"

As she was letting out her anger, the waves of the ocean crashed more violently.

"Just go, Beast Boy. Leave me alone!" Raven continued.

"Raven-"

"No! I don't wanna hear it!" she yelled. "Just go!"

Beast Boy wanted so desperately not to go, and to try and prove to her that he didn't think of her as weak; seeing her now, he got up and started to walk away, but not before he got the last word in.

"I'll go. For now," Beast Boy said. "But you're not alone, Raven. When I saw you spazzing out, I was scared too. I was scared about what was happening to you. Aren't friends supposed to look out for each other?"

As Beast Boy began his trek back to the tower, Raven grabbed both sides of her hair and her eyes once again went milky white, another premonition occurring.

* * *

Cyborg and Jesse sat at the table in the kitchen, the two males wolfing down a rack of ribs.

"Mmm-mmm!" Cyborg gushed. "Now _that _is what I call food!"

Jesse nodded. "I hear you, man. I've never had anything this good back in Brooklyn."

"Really?" Cyborg wondered. "I thought they had good food around those parts."

"They probably did. Not that a young orphan boy could afford it," Jesse said. "Me and Jake had to scrounge off fuckin' hot dog vendors. Let me tell you: hot dogs-you tend to get sick of 'em after a while."

"Not if they got chili on 'em," Cyborg retorted.

"Maybe." Jesse swallowed whatever food was in his mouth after he said that.

"Hey, Jess?"

"Uh-huh?"

"You were talking about specialty powers and all that jazz, I'm just wondering: when did you get yours?" Cyborg asked. "And how'd you learn about it?"

Jesse wiped his mouth with his hand. "Oh, I knew this question would come up. It's gonna take a little bit of time, Megaman."

"I got plenty," Cyborg replied.

"Yeah, you do." Jesse sucked in a breath. "Me and Jake, when we were younger, we left Brooklyn. At some point, we came across this magician called Baron Winters. Lying, manipulative, smug son of a bitch, but he was good. Learned a whole lot about arcanes and the dark arts. At some point in puberty, we develop a power that may be unique to us, or shared with one other person. One day, Jake had gotten injured by some asshole who hit him with a bat, and we were at the hospital...

* * *

**Flashback: 7 years ago**

_In the waiting room of a hospital in Washington D.C., a sixteen year old Jesse paced around, anxiety within his every step. "C'mon, Jake. I know you'll pull through with this."_

_To try and shake himself of the negative emotions, Jesse had walked down one of the corridors to go to a soda machine. As he approached the machine, he suddenly darted his head all around the area. His eyes eventually rested on an open door. Curious, he walked toward the door and saw an elderly man on a bed hooked up to a bunch of tubes._

_"Doc?" the old man said, looking at Jesse._

_Not knowing what to do, Jesse walked toward him. "Uh, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be here-"_

_"No. No, don't leave, Doc," the old man begged._

_"Sir, uh, I'm not a-"_

_"Y-y-y-you're exactly what I need," the older man interrupted, his voice weak and stammering. "I don't have much t-time left, and it's so scary. I-I can't stand all of this."_

_Jesse darted his eyes around, desperate to get out of there. "But I'm not a doctor," he said._

_The old man continued. "It's so scary. I don't know what's on the other side. Is it all just a lie? Am I gonna go to heaven?"_

_Jesse scrunched his eyes shut for a few seconds until something beckoned him to open them._

_'There's nothing to be scared of.'_

_The old man gasped at hearing Jesse's voice in his head._

_'There is only the night. The vast, unending, tranquil night.'_

_The old man coughed and closed his eyes. "Thank you...Doctor Night.'_

* * *

**Back to Present**

"That was a freaky experience for sure," Jesse said. "From that point on, me and Jake were able to hold entire conversations without ever once opening our mouths."

"Damn," Cyborg commented, taking another bite of his ribs. "Sounds like some 'Goosebumps' shit."

"Tch, I wish it were that corny," Jesse quipped. "I mean, sure, telepathy has its uses, it's a funny parlor trick, but do you know what it's like to hear everyone's thoughts at once. Not good."

"I bet, man," Cyborg said. "And these Shadow Riders-"

"No," Jesse interrupted. "They can't sense telepathy. Which is good for me, but not you guys, since you can't respond back."

"Well, doesn't that suck for us," Cyborg replied. "But I got one question? You were hostile the other day, so why this new chummy, relaxed attitude?"

Jesse gave a small smile at that. "Simple. I read all your deeper thoughts, your memories, and I knew you guys were good."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow at that. "Ok, then. What am I thinking now?"

Jesse went into a faux thinking pose. "You're thinking 'there's no way he can hear all of this.' Something about stankball. And a whole lot of numbers jumbled together I can't understand."

"Binary code, baby!" Cyborg said with pride.

'_You're half-machine, so I guess that's the only logical reason for that_,' Jesse said telepathically. Cyborg nearly fell from his chair at hearing Jesse's voice in his head.

"Ok, we gon' need to work on our communication," Cyborg stated.

* * *

**Just more info and character interaction. Is this story ok for someone's first time writing for Teen Titans?**


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